Russia
will not compete at next month’s Paralympics in Rio after losing an appeal
against a ban imposed for state-sponsored doping.
The
Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) upheld the International Paralympic
Committee's (IPC) ban on all Russian competitors.
The
IPC made the decision in light of the McLaren report, which detailed a
state-sponsored doping programme operated by Russia.
The
Paralympics begin on 7 September.
The
IPC's decision to ban the entire Russian team "was proportionate in the
circumstances", according to the Cas panel, which said it would publish
the full grounds for its decision later.
It
added that the Russian Paralympic Committee did not file any evidence
contradicting the facts put forward by the IPC.
The
IPC's decision is in contrast to the International Olympic Committee (IOC),
which chose not to hand Russia a blanket ban from the Olympic Games.
The
IOC was widely criticised for ignoring the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada)
recommendation to ban Russia.
Instead,
each individual sporting federation was given the power to decide if Russian
competitors were allowed to compete.
A
three-person IOC panel then had the final say.
In
the end, more than 270 Russian athletes were cleared to compete at the
Olympics, with
Russia winning 56 medals in total.
Russia
had been set to take 267 competitors across 18 sports to the Paralympics. The
Cas statement added that it had not looked at the "natural justice rights
or personality rights" of individual Russian athletes in making its
decision.
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